Ghostlight Records will release Rags – The Musical: Original London Cast Recording in digital and streaming formats on 15 May 2020 with a physical CD to be made available later in the year.
The first recording of the show since Sony’s 1991 album of the Broadway cast and the first to include the newest version of the revised score features the stars of the London transfer run of the critically acclaimed Hope Mill Theatre production of the show.
The cast for the production which played to packed houses at London’s Park Theatre earlier this year featured Carolyn Maitland, Dave Willetts, Sam Attwater, Debbie Chazen, Alex Gibson-Giorgio, Rachel Izen, Samuel Jones, Jude Muir, Martha Kirby, Oisin Nolan-Power, Jeremy Rose, Arthur Boan, Angela Caesar, Adam Crossley, Drew Dillon, Matthew Gent and Natasha Karp.
Customers who pre-order the digital album at ghostlightrecords.lnk.to/rags will immediately receive a download of the first single ‘Children of the Wind’.
Commenting on the cast recording, lyricist Stephen Schwartz who served as executive producer on the album, said: “I could not be more pleased that this beautifully sung production of Rags is being recorded by this group of terrific actors and musicians. I and my fellow authors consider ourselves lucky indeed!”
Composer Charles Strouse added: “I am thrilled beyond words that the score will live on.”
Produced, recorded, mixed and mastered by Joe and Nikki Davison at Auburn Jam Music, the show’s musical director Joe Bunker and orchestrator Nick Barstow fill the same roles on the recording.
With a book by Joseph Stein (Fiddler on the Roof), lyrics by Stephen Schwartz (Wicked) and music by Charles Strouse (Annie), the story of a Russian immigrant who travels to America with her son in search of a better life debuted on Broadway in 1986. The writers re-worked and revised the show a number of times. The newest version from 2017 features a revised book by David Thompson.
Nominated for nine Off West End Theatre Awards, the new version of Rags received its UK premiere at Manchester’s Hope Mill Theatre in February 2019 and transferred to the Park Theatre in London earlier this year.
Directed by Bronagh Lagan, Rags features choreography by Philip Michael Thomas, orchestrations by Nick Barstow, set and costume design by Gregor Donnelly, lighting design by Derek Anderson, sound design by James Nicholson, casting by Jane Deitch and children’s casting by Keston and Keston.
Rags at Park Theatre was presented by Katy Lipson for Aria Entertainment in association with Knockhardy Productions, Edward Prophet, People Entertainment Group, Park Theatre and Hope Mill Theatre. The production was presented by arrangement with MTI Europe.
Rags will soon be available for licensing through Music Theatre International.
Angela Thomas
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